Salting

sailor, soldier & explorer rations, food from the commmoner - salt pork
townsend

preparing salt pork in the 18th century cooking series
Townsend
In history Salting was very important, but I'm not so sure it will translate as well to our purposes.

First you would need a supply of salt, which would be hard to obtain in Ontario without trade routes.

second, I doubt it tastes very good. There are other preservation methods that would work better.